We've been hearing rumors about an LG Nexus for a while now. At first, we were skeptical. However, as the evidence piles up, we're becoming increasingly convinced that this rumor is indeed legit.

Now, a set of photos have surfaced over at the XDA forums that appear to seal the deal.

The first thing you'll probably want to check out in the above shots is the About screen. The device is running Android 4.1.2 and is dubbed "mako," which just so happens to be a type of shark, keeping it in line with the naming scheme of all previous Nexus devices. It's also worth nothing that the model number, E960, matches a device pegged as the LG Nexus when it hit the FCC last week.

As suggested by previous rumors, the overall hardware of the phone looks a lot like the LG Optimus G, which sports a 4.7" 1280x768 display, along with a 1.5Ghz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB RAM. Further backing the rumor that LG's Nexus would be based on the Optimus G, part of the baseband version is "M9615a," which is a reference to MDM9615 - the same modem found in the G. Furthermore, the kernel appears to have been built by Qualcomm, as suggested by the identifier adudani - a Qualcomm employee - in the kernel version.

So, what does it all mean? Right now, not much. This could be the LG Nexus. In fact, it's probably more likely than not. Thankfully, rumors point to a late-October announcement, so we won't have that much longer to wait for the full skinny.

Cameron is a self-made geek, Android enthusiast, horror movie fanatic, musician, and cyclist. When he's not pounding keys here at AP, you can find him spending time with his wife and kids, plucking away on the 6-string, spinning on the streets, or watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on repeat.

No clue if it's true, but it looks like the real device is uglier than the leaked one here. Not like I was going to buy it anyway, but it's still sad.

http://twitter.com/whatisajimmy ok

... Jellybean though?

Josh Nichols

4.2 is still Jellybean.

http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

We don't know that yet. Plus this is 4.1.2, not 4.2. So what "ok" meant was that it's not running the latest rumored OS.

Fifth313ment

LOL, someone needs to teach the leaker that you make sure you're not in the picture of the d3evice you're leaking that could cost you your job. In that last shot I could now pick him out from a lineup, LOL! Well we salute him for his effort! Also it doesn't look like the final design as you can see the curved edges on the back of the phone which is also what the mock GS3 models had to cover up their real look. On the only shot of the back you can see the curves on the top and bottom on the back. I think this is just a shell, I'm going to bet it's NOT the Nexus. I mean it probably has the same internal but unless I'm wrong the back is going to be fugly, lol.

EH101

This. The device definitely has some sort of fake shell on it like the fake GS3's did.

Josiah Morales

Spotted the same thing, You can tell from the back, i guess there going over some design or just keep it under covers.

http://www.androidpolice.com/author/ron-amadeo/ Ron Amadeo

Yeah. You can make out his face, his camera, his room, a mostly readable IMEI number... he's crazy.

jusatin

He has no fear of hetting fired, he's just doing what he was hired for. Getting the hype up.

Greek_Ice

Another black slab, but it does look sleek (especially the back). Can't wait for AllThingD!

Brandon Williamson

no more nexus for me then.... sammy makes the best devices hands down. Ill be going with the note 2 i think :-/

guest

You do realize there are supposed to be MULTIPLE nexus devices this year right?

levi

You do realize those are rumors right?

Southrncomfortjm

Samsung makes the most *popular* android devices. I don't know that they make the best. Nevermind that best would be incredibly subjective and vague. By best do you mean best build quality? I'd say Motorola or HTC have Sammy beat there. What about radios? That goes to Motorola. Best internals? That's a tie since any manufacturer today can easily toss a 1.5+ghz S4 into a phone with 2gb ram. Best non-stock UI? No such thing! They all blow :P Most innovative phones? I'd go with Asus since they have the Padphone, a piece (or pieces) of technology that 'm very intrigued by.
In my opinion, the GNEX is only good because of how quickly it gets OTA updates and because of the development community. Take away the "Nexus" from the Galaxy Nexus and its a much less amazing phone.

Andrew

After enduring the crap GPS on my LG G2x, I'm hesitant to ever want to buy a LG device again. In addition, they really treated developers horribly with the lack of drivers for ICS/JB.

_Mych_

I have that same white fan!!!

Rob

lol

Jay T

Is that a rumour? Should we be doubting your ownership of said fan? :P

http://www.facebook.com/dgemus Don Gemus

The big problem here (besides the guy showing his face!!!) is the browser. The standard is Chrome and this has the 'Android Browser' ...something is wrong here.

daveloft

Well the Galaxy Nexus still has the Android Browser, only the Nexus 7 thus far has shipped with Chrome. Also, this is running 4.1.2, not the final 4.2 that the device is rumored to release with. So it's still very likely that when shipped with final software it will come with Chrome.

wtx757

Could be wrong here but on my Gnex it still has stock browser v.4.1.1 and no option to uninstall and it's a JB device. Nexus 7 on other hand only chrome. Just sayin'.

TweetrGuy

Looks too similar to an iPhone. it has buttons on the sides and a glossy back. LG better prepare the lawyers.

Bariman43

Took me a minute to realize you were being sarcastic.

http://profiles.google.com/marcusleejh Marcus Lee

"Thankfully, rumors point to a late-October announcement, so we won't have that much longer to wait for the full skinny."

Or, as the pictures suggest, the full fatty...

Himmat Singh

Better rename this site Androidrumors.com, judging by the incessant rumors/leaks being written about here. No kidding...

http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

We will still post rumors mixed in with the news, clearly marked as such. When one of them has a bunch of photos of a device we've never seen before, we'll post it and provide our commentary to go along with it. Just because one rumor that was falsely advertised as coming from a proven source was smashed doesn't mean all rumors should stop now.

TheGM0

How are people this stupid? Do you want them to just post press releases? Photos of likely the next Nexus devices, sourced on XDA and posted on multiple news site. But let's not post it on an dedicated android site because Himmat Singh is retarded.

Jordan

It's for discussion. What do you want a post every few days so we can read it and nod our head? Rumors get the mind thinking, conversation brewing, and some speculation.

fixxmyhead

Hey they at least have what look to be real pixs of a lg nexus unlike some other certain sites ;)

John

So they should act like A&M and say it's from a reliable source?

;)

http://twitter.com/C14KAA Harps

Surprised no one is has set up a site on that domain yet, not a bad idea at all.

http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

Just FYI, I looked into our logs and found a ton of references to Android 4.1.2 from multiple IPs all referencing build JZO54K.

Artem, I mean no offense, but judging by the fact you continually check your server logs, you're implying that those working on Android at the Google HQ come to Android Police often?

Matthew Beckers

Is it really such a big surprise that Andoird developers take an interesting in the news their work generates?

http://codytoombs.wordpress.com/ Cody Toombs

Or...Google is intentionally "leaking" little tidbits to get people talking. It's not even remotely uncommon, even for Google, to drop hints about upcoming products to get people excited. Absolutely nothing of importance is lost by Google if they are leaking some http headers with version numbers.

http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

The procedure to roll out a phone involves many-many people - it could be testers. It could be Googlers who are dogfooding the latest update (it's common for the Android team to roll out updates to Googlers, not just from the Android team, but Googlers in other departments). But in general, yeah, I know the Android team reads AP, or at least some of the articles since they directly commented on them and are very much aware of AP's existence.

silaslenz

So the Nexus S might get another update? I'm actually surpriced by that :)

http://www.facebook.com/Shinakuma George Millhouse

I will never buy a Nexus made from LG. Being that I am on Verizon and LG hasnt made a top of the line phone there worth buying, I will wait.

http://twitter.com/C14KAA Harps

agree, personally, i think it looks horrible, so bland and unimaginative. If no other manufacture builds a quality hardware device to match the amazing software, I may consider the iPhone! Fingers crossed HTC/Sony or Samsung unveil better looking devices!

Saul

This one of the reasons I much prefer hardware buttons than on-screen. The besel is still huge. On the fourth picture the screen appears very small.

jacob

those are what we in the industry call "shadows".

http://www.facebook.com/IanMMA Ian Smith

If this is legit, soft keys vs. hard continue to completely rape screen real estate. This is an even bigger waste of screen then the GNEX is. SMH

Freak4Dell

Finally, somebody that gets it. All these phones have a ton of bezel at the bottom anyway, so there's no good reason to advocate for soft buttons over physical ones. Soft buttons only get in the way and waste screen space.

Damon Devitt

Customize looks, function, color, etc

Freak4Dell

Still waiting for a good reason. You can customize the function of physical buttons, too (number of taps, long press, etc.). I suppose customizing the color and looks are good reasons to support them, but they're not good reasons to implement them. 99% of users aren't about to go that deep into the customization of Android. Plus, it seems like manufacturers and carriers these days don't want you customizing anything, hence the locked bootloaders and all.

musashiken

We are talking about a Nexus phone right? 99% of people who buy this will be going deep into customization. Also a certified Nexus device has to meet the requirements of stock Android, which includes soft keys implementation. No matter what reasons you think, there's no way a Nexus device post Honeycomb will have hard keys unless Google decides to drop soft key implementation from Android in the future.

Also there are custom roms that can change the number of soft keys from 3 to 5 and also rearrange the position. That's something hard keys can't do.

Tell me again when a non Nexus device goes soft key instead of hard key, then we will have the soft/hard discussion again.

Freak4Dell

So, because it was Google that made the decision, I can't point out that it's a stupid decision?

Source for your claim that 99% of Nexus buyers do deep customization? The Nexus phones are still sold far and wide to the average Joe, who has no interest in that stuff, or even any idea that it can be done.

I never said there weren't things that soft keys could do that hard keys can't. I just said there's nothing that they can do that hard keys can't that actually benefit most users.

musashiken

So I can't have a different opinion as you?

I think Google's decision is fantastic, having used a Galaxy Nexus. In my opinion, people who think that few millimeters of screen space is worth ranting about among palm sized devices are just being silly.

I've compared my GNex with a SGS3 side by side and sure the S3 screen looks a tad bigger than the GNex but it didn't make me go "Damn you on-screen buttons for making my phone screen smaller".

Also it's funny that you refute my "claim of 99%" because that was just in response to your own "claim of 99%" in case you didn't get it.

Freak4Dell

Nobody said you can't have a different opinion from me. It just seemed like you were implying that I'm not allowed to have a different opinion from Google.

I've compared my phone with the GN, and it didn't make me go, "Damn you physical buttons...why can't you be part of the screen?" To be honest, I really don't care that software buttons exist. I just wish they actually served some sort of useful purpose. I would love for phones to have true physical buttons again...ones that actually move down when you press them, and back up when you let go. That feedback is something that software buttons will never be able to emulate. However, that won't happen, so whatever. If you're going to have software buttons, at least make them do something other than just have that "cool" factor. Take my current phone of obsession, for example, the RAZR M. It has software buttons...okay, cool, whatever. However, it also has half an inch of bezel below it, which is completely blank on the international versions, and just has a giant Verizon logo on the Verizon version. Other than Verizon's desire to slap their name wherever they can, what good reason did Motorola have to not just stick buttons in that area? That would have given us more space on the screen, and it would have made use of that area that has to be there because of hardware design. The phone had to be that long regardless, and buttons aren't that thick, so they could have easily just stuck some there. Sure, a few millimeters of space doesn't really matter in the long run, but when manufacturers have extra bezel that's serving no purpose there anyway, it's silly to waste screen space with buttons. It also makes the phone unnecessarily wider. I mean, if they're only going to give us 4.1" of usable space on a 4.3" phone, then just put a 4.1" screen and physical buttons, and make the phone less wide. At least it will be easier to hold that way, and width is where a millimeter or two actually does make a world of difference.

I refuted your 99% claim because mine is a lot closer to the truth than yours. Now, if you made that 99% claim about a developer edition of some device, I'd agree with you without hesitation.

musashiken

I'm not implying anything. I'm just voicing a different opinion from yours. We are obviously both from different camps here so what I'm doing is to convince more people that soft keys are the way to go into the future.

It's entirely your subjective opinion that hard keys should stay because you like how the feedback feel to your fingers etc. I'm not against that, I just find it funny since it's not any different from what you deem is a "cool factor" of soft keys. Come on, people like soft keys because they are cool, and others like hardware buttons because they feel good? They both sound like subjective opinions to me.

If you need a reason against hardware buttons, I can say that it's a waste of manufacturing resources because you need to design and create molds for separate mechanical parts. Just slap a screen on a bezel and you can cut out the extra stuff and save costs. Of course I'm not from a manufacturing background but that does sound logical.

To be honest I don't know why manufacturers are still having bezels on the top and bottom of phones. Do you? It could be just a design issue rather than practical issues that they leave the extra bezels on.
So if some time in the future, a manufacturer manages to create a phone with nothing but a screen and minimal bezel on all sides. Are you still going to tell them that they should leave the bottom part longer so they can add in hard buttons? In that scenario, it will show how far sighted Google was in implementing soft keys but only time will tell.

And again, your claim that your 99% is closer to the truth than mine is just your opinion. If you had to ask me for statistics, you have to provide the same for yours in the first place.

Freak4Dell

It certainly is a subjective opinion. However, what's not a subjective
opinion is that on screen buttons take up screen space. Whether or not
that bothers the user is obviously subjective, but they definitely do
take up screen space.

It could be a waste of manufacturing resources, but considering that
many phones still do have physical buttons, I'm going to go ahead and
say that it's not much of a waste. Of course, I'd have to see the
internal financial documents to really tell how much is being spent on
that, but if it was a serious problem, all the manufacturers would be
doing on-screen buttons at this point.

Bezels on the top and bottom are probably due to a combination of design
choice/usability concern and hardware limitations. On the RAZR M that I
used as an example earlier, the circuitry inside extends the full
length of the phone, which is why I said that the phone had to be that
long anyway. Having to stuff all those components into a shorter phone
would have made it thicker, and so they probably figured that longer was
better than thicker. Completely getting rid of bezels isn't really
practical, as it would create a usability nightmare. A complete
side-to-side screen would require extensive software modifications to
incorporate system-wide rejection of unintended touches. A complete
top-to-bottom screen would create the same problem, except in landscape.
You know what would have been cool, though? If Google had introduced
the on screen buttons at the same time as a tablet that had an 11"
screen in a 10" case (or 8" in a 7" case and so on), which would still
leave a bit of bezel all around, but not the inch or so that seems to be
standard for tablets at the moment. The XOOM really didn't do this,
though. If somebody creates a phone with less bezel, that's absolutely
fine. I'm all for that (just as long as they don't get rid of them
completely). However, it's been a year and a half since software buttons
were first introduced, and nobody has come out with a phone or tablet
that significantly cuts down on bezels (other than Motorola with the
sides on the M). I'd rather see Google devote their resources to fixing
the current problems of Android, rather than seeing ahead so far into
the future that it will take years for the hardware to catch up. Yes,
I'm sure they have different teams working on different things, but
imagine how fast they could make current Android problems go away if
they had more people focused on fixing them, rather than having some
focused on fixing them, and some focused on fixing problems that don't
actually exist yet.

I could provide backup for my 99% claim (well, it would likely be in the
range of 90-99%, rather than 99% exactly), if I cared enough to do so.
You'll never be able to provide the proof for your 99% claim, though.

Anyway, this has probably gone on long enough. It's clear that we will
never agree on this. I think soft buttons are completely pointless, and
there's no changing my mind until the hardware design catches up.

musashiken

Lol, it sure has gone long enough.

But you still didn't get why I chose 99% in the first place. If you only said "most users" in the first place, then that was that. I agree with you that most users don't care about customization but my claim that "most users" who buy Nexus phones on their own are definitely for customization should stand as well, though not in your range but enough to warranty "most". I used 99% only because you did, so I don't get why you have to ask me to back up my claim because it's clear I was being figurative like I thought you were.

Freak4Dell

99% or most, I still wouldn't agree that a majority of Nexus owners are doing customization to the level where they customize their soft buttons. Now, it may be possible that a majority have custom soft buttons because it's included in their ROM, but that's a side effect of the ROM, not a deliberate intention to customize those buttons. The people that are out there saying, "I want to change up my soft buttons," or, "I'll choose this ROM because it includes changes to the soft buttons," are in the minority, at least from everything I've read and seen.

Speaking of customizing those buttons, apparently that feature is now in CM10. On my tablet, though, all it managed to do was reorder the buttons and break them. Very annoying.

musashiken

Ah, that I do agree. I seem to have sidetracked in my argument since I was talking about general customization and not your view of deep customization of Android. We were talking about reasons for soft keys in the first place. In any case I can't convince you otherwise so we'll have to agree to disagree.

Though I'd still say that it's hard to convince me on the range of 99% and more unless you are absolutely sure that's based on all Android users in the world and not just USA. Especially China, who knows what they feel about customizing Android especially what I've seen on MIUI, though I admit that whatever Android they have is probably government modified. If you are indeed talking about just mainly USA users, then I'm out of this conversation since I'm from the other side of the world.

Freak4Dell

Well, I am from the US, so my experiences are definitely American. I have no idea what Android marketshare is even like in China, or how familiar the general public of China is with technology. Same for other countries, too. While I could make a few educated guesses about some countries, the only one where I am really confident in my knowledge of the general public is the US.

Himmat Singh

I agree very much. I don't understand why so many people have a fetish for software buttons. This allows manufacturers to claim a 4.8-inch screen size, but the usable size is more like 4.5. I know, not much of a difference, but still. Also, hardware buttons allow for some'feedback', in the sense that they can vibrate etc,

Freak4Dell

To be fair, soft buttons can also provide haptic feedback.

jacob

in like to be able to rearrange my software buttons to my liking (mirrored from stock) which, to the best of my knowledge, isn't possible with capacative buttons.

Android is all about customizability and the Nexus is just the hardware extension of that.

bigbuckschucks

and they've now been pulled from the source.

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Thomas Viñas

This thing looks a bit too much like the Iphone

GazaIan

It's got an anti-paparazzi shell on it, that's not how it actually looks.

http://twitter.com/iPhoneRelease2 iPhoneRelease

I'm confused, is the name of the phone LG Nexus or a Nexus on the LG line?

NemaCystX

Isn't that a dummy box, aka, Mule, like they used on the Galaxy S3 to hide its real shape?

gladgura

I was/am hoping Google would partner up with HTC to build the next Nexus phone. Why? Because HTC builds great phones in terms of build quality and styles (matter of taste of coarse) plus I think The Nexus might give that push HTC needs. Apple & Samsung might be great companies but I am rooting for HTC, why because every Android phone I have owned has been an HTC phone (mostly coincidental) They all where great.

Guillermo Perez-Arguello

Crap..looks like it

mauric

It's looking quite awful, Yes i know there is a case around it, but the Gnex looks way better than this. Besides that, on-screen buttons don't look so nice on non-amoled screens. they just don't bend in with the bezel. The S3 has the same problem though, but reversed: black screen, blue border....

Southrncomfortjm

If I promise to take a picture of the next Nexus in a dirty and cluttered room, can I have one too? Couldn't be any worse than letting this guy have one out in the open.

Southrncomfortjm

This phone looks a bit different from the other LG Nexus photos. It looks like the corners are less rounded, giving the device a more traditionally rectangular shape, and it doesn't have the crazy shiny glitter-ike stuff on the back.

http://www.facebook.com/krisrk Kris Kenny

"It's also worth nothing that the model number..." nothing... haha that made me laugh!

Jonathan Wong

I like the minimalistic design and glossy back. Just hope it's not a fingerprint magnet or easily scratched.

master94

If this is 300-400 dollars off contract , it could be the best selling phone in the world, if Google puts on a lot of TV ads, since no one wants to sign contracts anymore with the price hikes.

Luis Augusto Fretes Cuevas

The bezel is insultingly large, that aside, it not ugly or good looking. Just boring.

eric

good article

eric

i want to share our site with you guys apk daddy its an android warehouse